Midnight.
Slytherin Common Room.
Located under the Black Lake, it was surrounded by circular windows. Giant squids and merpeople occasionally swam past the glass, casting eerie green light onto the stone walls, creating an atmosphere that was both strange and oppressive.
Ivan Potter sat in an armchair, holding a cup of hot cocoa (made by a house-elf at his request), flipping through a copy of Ancient Rune Analysis.
"You're three minutes late, Potter."
A cold voice drifted from the shadows. Professor Snape descended the spiral staircase, his black robes trailing a long shadow behind him. He carried a bottle of deep purple potion and two glass goblets.
"Professor, your clock is three minutes fast." Ivan didn't even look up as he turned a page. "Or perhaps your biological clock is broken from staying up too late. I suggest drinking some goji berry tea. It's a Muggle remedy, but good for kidney defici... ahem, good for mental exhaustion."
A vein throbbed on Snape's temple.
If any other student dared say that, he would have hung them upside down from the ceiling. But facing Ivan, he somehow endured it.
Because after analyzing that "Trans-Magical Quality" antidote Ivan brewed this afternoon for half the night, Snape discovered it contained a logic of molecular restructuring he had never seen before!
"Sit up straight, Potter." Snape slammed the potion bottle and glasses onto the table with a crisp clack. "Since you want to learn Occlumency, I will show you what true 'mental defense' is. Do not assume your crude, home-brewed resistance can withstand Legilimency."
"I'm all ears." Ivan closed his book and sat up, his eyes as calm as a stagnant pond.
Snape stared into Ivan's eyes, those bottomless black pools.
"The core of Occlumency is not 'blocking', but 'organizing'." Snape's voice dropped low, carrying a hypnotic quality. "You must file your memories like organizing a library. Lock the things you don't want seen in the basement, and leave only trivial garbage for the intruder to see."
"Sounds like sorting trash," Ivan commented.
"Silence!" Snape snapped. "Now, look into my eyes. I'm coming in. If you dare resist, your brain will hurt as if a troll stepped on it."
Snape raised his wand, pointing the tip at his own temple, while his other hand reached out toward Ivan's forehead without touching it.
"Legilimens!"
Boom!
Ivan's vision blurred, and the dungeon vanished instantly.
Replacing it was a vast, white void.
This was the consciousness world.
From Snape's perspective, he had successfully breached Ivan's surface consciousness and entered this "mental fortress."
However, in the next second, he was stunned by the scene before him.
This was absolutely not the mind of an eleven-year-old child!
There were no colorful childhood memories, no craving for sweets, no attachment to parents.
Before Snape stood a magnificent, suffocatingly grand black Gothic library.
Bookshelves stretched endlessly into the clouds, each book radiating an ancient, desolate aura. Golden runes floated in the air—"Fragments of Truth" that only a top-tier Dark Wizard could comprehend.
And in the center of the library hovered a massive, beating black heart. Silver chains wrapped around it, and every beat emitted a deafening roar, as if an ancient beast were imprisoned inside.
"What... what kind of monstrous soul structure is this..." Snape's mental projection trembled.
Just then, a lazy voice echoed above the library.
"My, my, a guest? And an uninvited one at that."
Snape jerked his head up.
Sitting atop the highest bookshelf was a small figure. It was Ivan, but dressed in complex black robes, holding a book larger than himself, looking down at Snape.
"This is your Memory Palace?" Snape cried out in disbelief. "Impossible! This requires centuries of accumulation! Why is the weight of your soul heavier than Dumbledore's?!"
"This isn't memory, Professor." Ivan (Mental Projection) closed the book, a mocking smile curling his lips. "This is a 'Cage of Knowledge'."
"Since you're here, don't be in a rush to leave. I just happen to need a test subject for my newly developed 'Mental Counter-Matrix'."
Snape's face changed drastically. "What are you doing? Stop! This is against regulations!"
"In my domain, I am the regulation." Ivan snapped his fingers.
> [System Alert: Host has activated "Mental Labyrinth Lv.1".]
> [Invoking "Voldemort Soul Fragment (Fake)" Pressure...]
Instantly, the entire black library came alive!
Countless books flew up like bats, forming a massive vortex. The black heart contracted violently, and a wave of pure, emotionless killing intent crashed toward Snape's mental projection like a tsunami!
"Argh!!"
Snape felt like a small boat slamming into a ten-thousand-ton liner.
That feeling... that aloof indifference that viewed all living things as ants...
That was the Dark Lord's aura!
But purer, and far more ancient!
"Is this... the perspective of a god..." Snape's mental projection began to crack, bleeding from seven orifices (in reality).
Reality, Slytherin Common Room.
Snape abruptly let go, his body falling backward like a puppet with cut strings, crashing heavily onto the sofa.
Two streams of bright red blood flowed from his nose. His eyes were unfocused, and his chest heaved violently, as if he had just run a marathon.
Ivan remained sitting there, his posture unchanged, except his hot cocoa was missing a sip.
> [System Alert: Snape suffered mental backlash! Generated "Shock," "Terror," "Existential Crisis" and other extreme emotions!]
> [Emotion Value +600!]
> [Current Total: 4400 Points!]
Ivan looked at the disheveled Snape and handed him a handkerchief with feigned concern. "Professor? What happened? I haven't even started defending yet, why are you bleeding? Eating too many supplements lately?"
Snape took the handkerchief with a trembling hand, pressing it hard against his nose. His black eyes were bloodshot, staring at Ivan as if looking at a ghost.
"You... what was that just now?" Snape's voice was incredibly hoarse, trembling slightly. "That library... that black heart... where did you learn that?"
"Library?" Ivan looked confused. "What library? I was just thinking about what to have for a midnight snack. Oh right, I was wondering if I should sneak into the kitchen for some Rock Cakes."
"Liar!" Snape growled. He sat up abruptly, ignoring the blood, and stared dead at Ivan. "That was a 'Horcrux-level' mental defense architecture! You hid something extremely dangerous in your soul! Was that... some ancient Dark Wizard's secret art?"
Ivan laughed internally but sighed outwardly, looking at Snape like he was a country bumpkin.
"Professor, it seems your knowledge needs an update." Ivan put down his cup, leaned forward, and lowered his voice. "Since you saw it, I won't hide it from you. That isn't an ancient secret art; that is my self-constructed 'Magical Circulation Core'."
"As for that black heart..." Ivan pointed to his chest. "That is the container I prepared to house 'that thing'. You know, power always comes with a price."
Snape's pupils vibrated violently.
Self-constructed?
To house "that thing"?
Does this child really harbor an ancient evil god inside his body? Or some indescribable entity?
In this moment, Snape's imagination ran wild.
He thought of Ivan's potion improvements, the Thestral wand, Ivan's attitude toward Voldemort...
"You're a madman..." Snape murmured, but this time, there was no disdain in his tone, only the awe of meeting a peer. "You're a madman who would turn himself into a monster in pursuit of truth... just like... just like me."
> [System Alert: Snape feels "Resonance"! Emotion Value +200!]
> [Snape's Current Favorability: 30% (Up from -80%)]
Ivan was ecstatic inside but kept his cool exterior.
"Professor, now do you believe I am qualified to learn Occlumency?"
Snape took a deep breath, wiped the blood from his nose, and his gaze became more complicated than ever before.
"You don't need to learn that." Snape stood up, straightened his messy robes, and returned to his oily tone, though a tremor remained in his voice. "Your defense mechanism is innate, or rather... you 'grew' it yourself. Teaching you conventional techniques would only pollute your 'artwork'."
He walked to the table, picked up the purple potion, and pushed it toward Ivan.
"This is 'Draught of Living Death' (modified for stability). It stabilizes your mental fluctuations. Since you're raising that thing inside you, be careful not to let it blow you apart."
With that, Snape turned and walked away fast, as if fleeing a crime scene.
At the stairs, he stopped suddenly and spoke without turning around.
"Tomorrow's Potions class, don't bring your textbook. I will give you an independent research project. If you can solve the stability issue of the 'Wolfsbane Potion'... I will allow you to pick three ingredients from my private stores."
"And," Snape looked back, his black eyes glinting in the shadows, "don't die, Potter. Until you prove your theories, you aren't qualified to go to hell."
Bang.
The door to the stairs closed.
Ivan was left alone in the common room.
> [System Alert: Congratulations Host! Gained Snape's "Recognition (Pseudo)"!]
> [Reward: Dark Mark (Replica · Trial Version) Issued.]
> [Function: When worn, creates a "Fear Aura" against surrounding creatures and slightly boosts Dark Magic power.]
Ivan looked at the black, slightly warm skull tattoo sticker in his hand and couldn't help laughing.
"That old bat... quite the tsundere."
He applied the "Replica" to his left arm. It instantly melted into his skin, becoming a faint black tattoo.
A warm current flowed through his body.
"Now," Ivan stood up and walked to the window, looking into the dark depths of the Black Lake. "Time to deal with that 'Diary' problem."
"Tom Riddle, your delivery has arrived."